Movie actors and actresses are a mirror of the times. So who are the favorite film stars of Korean audiences today? On whom do we project our dreams and aspirations? Here we picked out three who have dominated the big screen and seem set to continue to do so for quite a while.

World Star Respected by Fellow Actors

On May 27, 2007, at the closing ceremony of the 60th Cannes Film Festival, Jeon Doyeon received the Best Actress award for her role in “Secret Sunshine” (2007) — the first such honor for a Korean. She earned critical acclaim for her intense performance as Shinae, a woman who has to live with the heartrending loss of her child. Jeon smiled radiantly as she accepted the trophy from actor Alain Delon. At the time, her co-star, Song Kang-ho, was mentioned as “one of the future faces of Cannes.” The modifier “world star” has been attached to Jeon’s name ever since.

​Jeon worked part-time as a magazine model in high school, and began her acting career in TV dramas before turning to the big screen. Her baby-faced, plain looks didn’t stand out among the glamorous actresses and she was simply considered “a supporting actor who knows how to act.” Her debut film, “The Contact” (1997), produced by Myung Films, unlocked her star potential. To start with, she made some bold style choices for the role. Putting aside a desire to appear pretty on screen, she opted for light makeup and a rather ordinary short perm, a daring look for a lead actress at that time. With its modern directional style, the movie presented a new type of melodrama in Korean cinema, and Jeon played a key part in its novelty.

Jeon’s filmography covers a wide dramatic range: “A Promise” (1998), “The Harmonium in My Memory” (1999), “Happy End” (1999), “I Wish I Had a Wife” (2001), “No Blood No Tears” (2002), “Untold Scandal” (2003), “My Mother, the Mermaid” (2004), “You Are My Sunshine” (2005), “My Dear Enemy” (2008), “The Housemaid” (2010), and “Memories of the Sword” (2015). It’s hard to define in one word, for there doesn’t seem to be a common thread or a well-calculated purpose in her choice of movies or characters. In “Happy End,” Jeon took on the role of a woman who has an adulterous affair, acting some steamy love scenes. She said that the movie marked the start of the second act in her acting career. It is well known that when her parents expressed their concern about her starring in a sexually explicit movie, saying, “You won’t be able to marry if you do it,” Jeon persuaded them by responding, “You didn’t have me become an actress so that I could marry well, did you?”​

Apart from “Secret Sunshine,” which she readily agreed to do because of director Lee Chang-dong and co-star Song Kang-ho, she chooses movies strictly based on the screenplay. If it’s convincing, then she shirks at nothing to fill the role.​“I can’t really pinpoint what I look for in a screenplay,” she says.

​“I just go with whatever speaks to my heart. I don’t obsess over having to play a different character from my previous works. I realized early on that things don’t pan out the way you wanted or planned. So, I just try to make the best choices when the opportunity comes my way.”

From the very beginning, looking gorgeous on screen has never been Jeon’s prime concern. To prepare for the action scenes required by her role as an underworld character in “No Blood No Tears,” she did 3,000 push-ups a day. As a female diver of Jeju Island in “My Mother, the Mermaid,” she didn’t hesitate to do the diving scenes, despite not being able to swim.

​Jeon is respected by her fellow actors. Gong Yoo, who starred opposite her in “A Man and A Woman” (2015), lavished praise on her acting: “She is a meticulous actress. She gives tremendous energy to other actors on the set.” Last summer, she generated enormous buzz for her return to the small screen in 11 years with the TV drama series “The Good Wife.” People are anxious to see what her next move will be.

The article above is courtesy of Korea Foundation(http://www.koreana.or.kr/user/0004/nd47477.do?View&boardNo=00000601&zineInfoNo=0004&pubYear=2016&pubMonth=WINTER&pubLang=English).